Bundle fasteners are used to engage and prevent relative movement between plural elongated members. One type of bundle fastener is a cable tie commonly used to maintain elongated members such as insulated conductors, or cables, in a tight bundle. This type of cable tie is in the form of an elongated, flexible strap typically comprised of a synthetic plastic material having on a first end thereof a housing with a slot therein which is adapted to receive a second, opposed end of the strap. Disposed along one surface of the strap is a linear array of first spaced teeth, while disposed within and defining a portion of the slot of the housing is an inner array of second spaced teeth. When the strap is looped back upon itself and its second end is inserted into the slot in the housing on the strap's first end, the first and second sets of teeth are drawn into, and maintained in, tight fitting engagement.
These types of cable ties are increasingly used for engaging and restraining larger numbers of cables having a corresponding greater weight requiring a greater restraining force. As the strength requirements of these types of tying arrangements have increased, the likelihood of damaging or deforming the mutually engaging sets of teeth has also increased resulting in increased failure rates. The strength and rigidity of the individual teeth is limited in currently available bundle tie arrangements by the requirement to slide one set of teeth over the other set during positioning of the tie arrangement about and in contact with the members to be restrained. Many current approaches include a positioning member movable between a lowered use position to engage the strap teeth and a raised position to release the pivoting member, or pawl, from between the strap teeth in releasing the tie. The pivoting pawl is the weakest part of this type of cable tie arrangement and the most likely to fail during use. In addition, space restrictions limit the size of the individual teeth and the coupling strength of current arrangements.
The present invention addresses the aforementioned problems and limitations of the prior art by providing a cable tie arrangement with increased coupling strength between the mutually engaging sets of teeth, as well as flexibility in the cable tie receptacle housing to facilitate secure engagement of multiple sets of teeth without deforming or breaking individual teeth.